I'm still waiting on my first choice, but these are my options right now: 84k at WUSTL, Georgetown at sticker, GWU at sticker, and 15k at Indiana University - Bloomington. I've pretty much thrown out IUB and GWU at this time.

My ideal job after graduation would be a big gov job. DoJ or SEC would be awesome, although a job on the Hill would be pretty great. If this is impossible, I would like Biglaw in Chicago or D.C.. I have literally zero interest in working in NYC. If biglaw is impossible, midlaw in Indianapolis would be alright too. Ideally, midlaw in Indianapolis would be the floor of my career opportunities.

In terms of debt, I feel like I'm in a pretty decent spot, even if I paid sticker. I have no undergrad debt, and my parents will likely help with the living expenses wherever I go. These are insanely rough estimates, but I would graduate with about 135k debt at Georgetown and about 45k at WUSTL.

While being able to graduate with less than 50k debt sounds great, I feel like I will be severely limiting the chances of me scoring big gov. Sure, WUSTL has a D.C. clinic that gives some grads jobs there, it can't be more than 15 percent or so. Also, being in D.C. year round would be great for networking and internships.

Right now, I think I'm leaning towards GTown. I really liked what I saw at WUSTL's ASD, but (assuming I actually like GTown when I visit) I think the higher debt load would be work the better employment prospects, especially when you consider how DC-centric my goals are.

EDIT: I am trying to turn my WUSTL scholarship into a bigger scholarship at IUB, which I could use to try and get a scholarship from GWU, which I could use to get a small scholarship at Georgetown. This would be nice, but I'm obviously not banking on it or expecting it.

EDIT: One specific question that anyone might know: what percentile would I need from both schools to secure employment in Indianapolis midlaw? Strong ties, obviously.

GW is a peer of WUSTL, have you tried leveraging some money out of them? While GULC is not a GW peer they may be willing to give you something if you express that being in DC is your long term goal. Just a thought.

Rawlberto wrote:GW is a peer of WUSTL, have you tried leveraging some money out of them? While GULC is not a GW peer they may be willing to give you something if you express that being in DC is your long term goal. Just a thought.

Juste a heads up based on your interests in the DOJ (as I currently work as a paralegal for the DOJ) where you go to law school isn't hugely important there. Fact is you will not get a job there fresh out of law school, most people have to work their way up through the ranks there. They love seeing public sector backgrounds and as its a government job and at least right now there is a hiring freeze on the DOJ they flat out aren't hiring. My department in DOJ used to have 15 attorneys, we've lost 8 of them and we're not replacing them. So big gov jobs don't really exist right now for much of anyone.

travman90 wrote:Juste a heads up based on your interests in the DOJ (as I currently work as a paralegal for the DOJ) where you go to law school isn't hugely important there. Fact is you will not get a job there fresh out of law school, most people have to work their way up through the ranks there. They love seeing public sector backgrounds and as its a government job and at least right now there is a hiring freeze on the DOJ they flat out aren't hiring. My department in DOJ used to have 15 attorneys, we've lost 8 of them and we're not replacing them. So big gov jobs don't really exist right now for much of anyone.